My Online Faith Journal

  Last weekend and the one before I worked on expanding a flower bed in our yard.  In order to do that, I had to pull up some of the grass near the house and move it to the other side of the yard.  It might sound easy, but unless you have a machine that does it for you then it isn't that easy.  I would get it started and slowly roll the grass up and cut the roots holding the grass down until it was rolled up and I could move it.    After that, I took the grass across the yard to some spots where there was no grass and planted them and watered.  This involves softening the ground where your going to put the grass and then making sure it has enough water.  You soften the ground so that the roots can with time burrow into the ground it was moved to.    It got me to thinking about the difference between having roots and being rooted.  At first, the grass was rooted.  It was tough to pull up because it was rooted into the ground.  It had been there for years and liked where it was. 

      Recently, I wrote about my frustrations at finding a new church home.  Right after that post, I started going to a church that meets at my son's school which is about a mile from our home.  They also have small groups which is something that I really wanted.  While it may not be a perfect fit for us, I think if I wait for a perfect fit this side of heaven I will never find it and church hop till I get to heaven.  It makes me think again about what my expectations are for a local church.  What do you expect when you go to church?       I think it was the second or third service I attended when Scott, one of the copastors got up to speak and really spoke about some themes that had been going through my mind.  At that point, I had not met Scott at all or told him what was on my mind.  It came back to the idea that I am longing for God to speak to me clearly.  I am looking for a clear word from him.      Well, be careful what you ask for, you might get it.  One of the things

    Lately, I have been thinking about how to know the difference between God's will and my own.  Specifically, I have been wondering to myself if when I feel a sense of discontentment if this is from the Lord or if this is my own will.  Or does God sometimes use feelings of discontent to get us to move in another diretion?  I have heard that he does and I have also heard that this is the flesh fighting against the Spirit.     I really don't want to just go rush out and do something because of a feeling of discontent and then walk outside of the will of God.  Sometimes, even more someone like me who has seminary degrees and has been ordained it is hard to hear from God.  The frustrating thing is that sometimes when I feel I most need to hear from him he grows even more silent than usual.     There are some issues that I know I need to deal with and I think that is probably the best place to start when thinking about God's will.  I know that the commandments of God are